


Again and Again

by Kuri



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: M/M, Parody Fic, Reincarnation AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-20
Updated: 2014-08-20
Packaged: 2018-02-14 00:21:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,326
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2170872
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kuri/pseuds/Kuri
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In one lifetime out of the many, Erwin is a police detective, and Mike his partner, again. </p><p>They make a good team, the two of them – just like the old days. They catch their target in less than half the time most other officers usually take, Mike easily pinning the masked man against the wall only with one hand, then shakes him roughly for good measure, as a reminder to stay put. </p><p>Just when Erwin is starting to feel an odd sense of déjà vu, their man sighs in resignation. </p><p>“Mike… Erwin? That you?” says Levi’s voice.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Again and Again

**Author's Note:**

> All the reincarnation AUs

It starts - or ends - on a bleak, gloomy Monday, with grey clouds in the sky and the air wet and bitingly cold. The huge, curious crowd that gathers seems barely deterred by the weather, standing huddled under parasols, whispering and murmuring amongst themselves, whether with unpleasant shock or pleased satisfaction, Levi doesn't care to know.

His team is ready, a ragtag group of his squad members and several men he used to work with, back when Levi was one of Sina's most sought-after underground criminals.

The wooden platform of the gallows is raised higher than Levi remembers it to be, perhaps to create more of a display, in a fit of petty smugness. Erwin stands there, head bowed low, his one arm bound behind his back, flanked by two men with 3DMG, dressed in entirely in black instead of the usual military uniform.

The rope is lowered, its end already tied into a noose. One of the men beckons Erwin to step forward, and when Erwin refuses, he draws his blade and slams the handle of it across Erwin's jaw. The second man steps forward, unfurls a scroll and begins reading from it: the list of Erwin's supposed crimes.

Levi moves.

"... treason against the Crown-"

The man with the blade suddenly falls to his knees, his mouth stupidly gaping in surprise. He raises his free hand to his chest, his fingers finding the tiny hole right above his heart, and then he's dead; half a second later, his companion collapses without a sound.

Someone in the crowd screams.     

And Levi is already there, already has his arm wrapped around Erwin's broad shoulders, when his instincts tell him that something is horribly, horribly wrong. There’s a bright flash of pain below his right eye.

They don't make it.

 

 

 

In one lifetime out of the many, Erwin is a police detective, and Mike his partner, again.

“What happened to having a peaceful life?” Mike says to Erwin, and laughs when Erwin pulls him close, to envelope him in a bear hug.

“Couldn’t stay away from the action,” Erwin says ruefully.

Mike offers him a wry shrug and nods in silent agreement. He catches Erwin up with what little he knows – Nanaba lives in the next state up north, Nile’s a CEO of some big shot company.

And they do make a good team, the two of them – just like the old days. They catch their target in less than half the time most other officers usually take, even after a chase through a maze of back alleys in the shadier part of town; Mike easily pinning the masked man against the wall only with one hand, then shakes him roughly for good measure, as a reminder to stay put.

Just when Erwin is starting to feel an odd sense of déjà vu, their man sighs in resignation.

“Mike… Erwin? That you?” says Levi.

They put Levi in the back seat of the car, Erwin getting in next to him while Mike drives. Levi is stubbornly silent, although his eyes are sparkling an odd mix of amusement and glee. After a few minutes, Erwin starts to wonder if maybe it might be kinder to remove Levi’s handcuffs.

Levi seems to read his mind. “No, don’t,” he tells Erwin very seriously.

After a few more minutes, Levi tells them that he met Hanji a few months ago, in a park near his apartment. Apparently Hanji and Moblit are married this time, and they have a six month old daughter named _Sasha_.

“And she has a huge, vicious German shepherd named Titan,” Levi adds, sounding distinctly exasperated.

They exchange news and pleasantries for the next few minutes, _almost_ like the old days. Erwin’s just telling Levi about his life when the car rolls to a stop at a red traffic light. And then Levi turns to squarely face Erwin, and says, “Sorry.”

And Levi hits out at Mike with his elbow, kicks Erwin in the side, twists around to swiftly tear the key to his handcuffs from Erwin’s belt, the car door bursting open as Levi slams his shoulder against it, and suddenly people are shouting all around them and Levi a disappearing figure in the distance.

 

 

The next time Erwin becomes a police detective, partly out of curiosity as to how things will turn out, mostly out of boredom – he gets partnered with Mike, _again._

Soon enough, Mike confronts him by the water cooler, when it’s just the two of them alone in the station’s break room.

“I’ve been wondering for _ages:_ did you deliberately let Levi get away, that last time?” Mike asks.

Erwin shrugs and grins sheepishly.

  

 

 

So then Erwin tries being a schoolteacher for a change of pace. He teaches Maths, and despite it being _Maths_ , he’s heard more than a few times that most students love his classes. In fact, one girl cheekily informs him that his classes rank just behind Hanji’s crazy Chemistry classes in their school’s latest unofficial ranking of Top Favourite Classes.

“I wasn’t aware that this ranking existed,” Erwin says drily, but dismisses the girl with a smile. Normally a few of his students like to hang back in his classroom after lessons to talk to him, but today he has another class coming in right after, and Erwin has a few things to sort out before he can go on teaching that next class.

The girl skips out, nearly bumping into someone on her way out. The someone swears quietly at her, a vaguely familiar voice, but Erwin is busy searching through the stack of paper files on his desk – he’s sure that this class is the one with the new student who just transferred in. He’s just managed to locate the file he needs right at the bottom of the pile when a shocked voice says, “Erwin?”

Erwin looks up and sees a fifteen-year-old Levi staring at him. He looks kind of adorable in his crisply ironed school uniform, although Erwin isn’t about to tell him that.

Instead, Erwin says, rather stupidly, “ _You’re_ the new student?”

“And you’re a fucking _Maths_ teacher,” Levi says incredulously.

Erwin almost forgets to reprimand Levi for his language. _Almost_.

 

 

And maybe, or highly probably, because fate is a funny thing, Levi suddenly decides to become a teacher in his next lifetime. His best friend Petra stares at him when Levi fills up the career survey form on the first day of their last semester in high school, then stares at him some more when he snaps at Eren for inquisitively asking if Levi really did want to be a teacher.

“Don’t do that, he’s just being curious,” Petra says, and Levi rolls his eyes at the ceiling, because even though they’re all classmates now, Petra still looks out for Eren like he’s still that young, stubborn brat he was once.

“Yes, I was just being curious,” the brat parrots, grinning mischievously at them.

Levi sighs. “I had a very good Maths teacher, some time ago,” he says, finally, and leaves it at that, because now both Eren _and_ Petra are staring at him like he’s gone crazy.

“Dude,” Eren says in a hushed whisper, “All the Maths teachers we’ve ever had suck!”

And then, fifteen years later, Levi is interrupted in the middle of a lesson (he ended up teaching elementary school instead, because kids in their late teens reminded him far too much of the 104th Trainee Squad brats) by a knock on the door and a small blond boy with blue eyes popping in to bravely ask, “Is this Levi’s first grade Maths classroom?”

 

 

 

Sometimes they’re closer in age, even on the same side of the law, even though Erwin has to coax Levi into joining his cause through less than savory means. They take nearly two years to track him down, and another two months of Levi leading them on a wild goose chase through the surface wasteland that was known as Asia over seven hundred years ago, and even then they only manage to find him because the government Trackers somehow get to him first.

Levi is pretty beat up when they first bring him in; Armin flashes Erwin a quick message that Levi has several broken bones and a concussion. But the medical team fixes him up in less than an hour, and soon Levi’s fit enough to sit up in bed to glare at Erwin and Armin. Erwin sends Armin away to check on the others in the med bay, and Armin takes the hint very quickly.

The first thing that Levi says is, “I _knew_ you had to be the leader of the rebels. Is everyone else here, too?”

“Mostly,” Erwin says. “By the way, Eren’s a six-year-old and he’s Mikasa’s _nephew_. He’s been very excited about finally meeting you in person.”

Levi frowns. “… Later,” he says at last. “But first: what did you want me for that you spent two bloody years trying to find me?”

And so Erwin tells him. By the end of it, Levi is no longer glaring at Erwin as angrily.

“So you’re saying that you lot are planning to take over the government,” Levi says, after Erwin is done explaining.

“Yes,” Erwin says calmly.

“And you want me to join you,” Levi goes on.

“Yes.”

Levi sighs, letting himself fall back onto his pillows. “I’m going to need a new set of repulsor wheel beams for my skateboard, my board was completely destroyed in that last fight,” he says. “I need precisely the K29 model muon beam reactor, I fucking hate the other models.”

Erwin allows himself a small smile.

 

 

 

In six lifetimes, Erwin kills Levi. One of those occasions is purely an accident; the other five times, Levi is actively attempting to kill Erwin, so Erwin bitterly justifies it as self-defense on his part. And in two of those lifetimes, Levi is the one who cuts off Erwin’s right arm. Erwin loses that same arm eight more times before he gives up trying to keep count.

On the other hand, Levi kills Erwin approximately fifteen times.

The sixteenth time Levi kills Erwin, Levi is a soldier and Erwin is a prisoner of war. Before Levi fires the killing shot, he bends over to quietly whisper in Erwin’s ear: “Can you please try to be born on the correct side the next time?”

And then Levi shoots him.

 

 

 

The lounge is white and utilitarian, a little too sterile-looking even for Levi’s taste. His handler sternly instructs him to sit down and wait, to which Levi has to force down an urge to kick the man’s skinny ass instead. The chip they implanted into his brain ensures his complete obedience to anyone who has his remote anyway, so Levi settles for mentally giving his handler the middle finger, and sits.

The couch is supremely uncomfortable, and Levi scowls as he attempts to pummel some life into the flat couch cushions. An hour later, his handler comes in with his new owner, a powerful businessman by the name of Erwin Smith. Erwin’s eyes are hard and cold and blank as he gazes down at Levi.

Levi throws a cushion at Erwin, gets whipped for it, and Levi resolves to kill Erwin in the next lifetime.  

 

 

After Levi _nearly_ kills him for the seventeenth time, Erwin decides to go back to being a teacher. This time, he decides to teach kindergarten instead; he thinks it might be a good way to make up for his never having any children of his own, _ever_. And he does love his job, especially when the children run up to him during playground time and beg him to let them ride on his broad shoulders.

And one day, a little girl named Mikasa enters his class. Erwin doesn’t give it much thought, but he discreetly tries to watch out for her, a plan that goes right into the drain the moment he catches her beating up two older boys for teasing her. Erwin sends the two boys to a corner and takes away their playground privileges for two days, and goes to call in Mikasa’s parents.

In the meantime, Erwin makes Mikasa sit in his office to wait for her father, and he takes the opportunity to lecture her about _not_ hitting people just because they called her names.

Half an hour later, the teaching assistant pops by to inform Erwin that Mikasa’s father has arrived, and Levi Ackermann walks in.

 

 

 

It doesn’t always make sense. In one of the more bizarre lifetimes, Erwin remembers being a llama while Levi is a penguin, although Levi is still as cynical as ever. There’s even a placid, black and grey sloth that Erwin belatedly identifies as one of the kids from the 104th Trainee Squad, as the furry little thing flops over the counter next to him and to lazily slurp at a shallow dish of vegetable stew.

 

 

 

 

 

And then it ends (or starts all over again) when Erwin is handed a slim stack of reports, of a trio of thugs based in Sina, two males and a female barely out of their teens, leaders of a powerful gang known for using stolen 3DMG to commit their crimes. He quickly sets up the investigation, calls in his usual team, locates their base of operations in the Underground.

Levi sees him first, deliberately causes a commotion in the market to draw Erwin’s attention. Smirks knowingly at him, and takes off into the air, as graceful and agile as he always has been.

The chase is short, and this time Erwin is the one who knocks Levi out of the air, while Mike hovers somewhere nearby and affectionately rolls his eyes at them.

“Finally,” Levi says, as Erwin pulls Levi’s arms behind his back to bind his wrists together, then strips the 3DMG off his body, and Erwin can practically _hear_ Levi grinning. “This time, let’s try to not die.”

 

 


End file.
